Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just borrowing for my own amusement (and hopefully yours, as well).

As the chapters unfold, I will also be borrowing songs and circumstances from the Gidget movies. There will probably be the occasional quote of or reference to other tv, movies, and songs. Sadly, I do not own any of those either – but I do hold them near and dear to my heart.

[ Brief recap from #3.8 "Greed" ]

Eric: "So the flowers are for…"

Nell: "No occasion."

Eric: "So, somebody sent you flowers just because."

Nell: "Why are you so surprised that somebody would send me flowers?"

Eric: "I'm actually not surprised at all."

Later scene…

Eric: "When I saw that someone had given you flowers, I felt…"

Nell: "…competitive."

Eric: "…competitive – with you. That's a good word for it."

Nell cannot help but smile to herself the remainder of the day – partly due to the earlier conversations about her flowers, but also at the adorably awkward way that Eric keeps starting to say something to her … but just doesn't seem to be able to put voice to whatever he is thinking.

Finally, he breaks the silence. "I'm sorry for … well … if I did anything to make you uncomfortable … I mean, I guess I was the one that was uncomfortable." After a long pause, "I'm sorry for letting that spill over into our friendship." Tilting his head, glancing at the floor, adjusting his glasses, and clearing his throat – he charges ahead, "As a gesture of apology, would you like to … I mean … could I … that is to say, do you have any interest in learning to surf? I would be happy to spend our day off tomorrow teaching you. That's not to say that we have to spend the entire day together. Oh, I should really stop talking. Can I walk out and try this again? Or just forget that I ever said anything – except the apology part."

He seems prepared to continue rambling, so she softly touches her index finger to his lips. "That really won't be necessary, Eric. You're really very sweet when you're flustered, do you know that?"

"OK, not really making me feel any less awkward."

"Let me finish." She takes a deep breath and begins to speak methodically, as if checking items off of a mental list. "Apology accepted. Yes, I'd like to learn to surf. I wondered when you'd get around to offering. I'm free all day tomorrow. Where do you want to meet? And when?"

He was standing there stunned. How is it that she can be so together, so businesslike about this? And he can't put together a coherent sentence? Not only is her IQ higher than his (or he assumes it is, anyway), but she appears to be out of his league in every way possible. But she doesn't know how to surf…

Finally gathering his thoughts, he offers to pick her up and take her to breakfast first thing in the morning. There is a café near the beach that opens early and has a great breakfast menu.

She can barely contain herself on the drive home. One of her guilty pleasures was to watch fluffy romance movies from the 1960s. She particularly loved the Gidget movies. Maybe it was just the diminutive stature, but Nell always felt she had much more in common with Gidget. And now, she's going to learn to surf!

After eating dinner, she makes a selection from her dvd collection and climbs under the covers. She grins from ear to ear as she sets her alarm and prepares to nod off while Francie Lawrence falls in love with Jeff Matthews. Doing her best imitation of Sandra Dee, Nell sighs, "Oh, Moondoggie!"

A/N: I hope to post the remaining chapters in quick succession. The story is complete, just needs to be polished and divided into chapters. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed imagining the possibilities.